


wilt & weather

by brandflakeeee



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: F/M, Gen, sequel to writ & wisdom, the whole crew is here again, victorian au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-11-24 09:25:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18163394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandflakeeee/pseuds/brandflakeeee
Summary: don't let your dreams go up in smoke.





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> yoooo! i'm back friends. please enjoy this first chapter which, let's be real, is just a bit of filler as an excuse for me to write shameless jacques and olivia. and also sets the scene a bit for the rest of this story as far as timelines and other things.

 

Music drifted hazily around the room, filling the grand and gleaming ballroom with a waltz that wound it’s way through the other din of glasses, idle chatter, and the usual other musings that came with an elaborate party. Dancers twirled and moved in tandem along one part of the flooring nearest to the band, while others mingled and dined and filtered in and out of the room at their leisure. The atmosphere was light, happy, and generally quite intoxicating, an environment one could easily be lost in.

“You’re getting very good at this, Duncan.”

“Really? I’m not stepping on your feet too much?”

“Not at all. I would be remiss if I let you leave here without being as confident in yourself as I am.” Olivia Caliban remarked kindly. Duncan Quagmire’s ears flushed a faint shade of pink that she didn’t comment on, but his grip on her hand became a bit stronger and the arm at her waist guided her more confidently through the waltz across the floor.

“Mind your arms, keep them up. Like the frame for a painting. You’ll be able to control your direction more.” She correctly warmly. He obeyed, and they spun around the edge of the dance floor with the other couples as the waltz came to it’s crescendo and then faded. She curtsied and he bowed like a proper gentleman, and Olivia smiled brightly.

“You were perfect!” She enthused to the hesitant Duncan. “You’ll be a master at all sorts of dances in no time.”

“Thank you, Olivia.”

“You are very welcome.”

His arm wrapped in hers, the pair slipped off the edge of the floor to return to a large table at the edge of the room. Isadora Quagmire and Klaus Baudelaire sat deep in discussion, pausing only when Olivia and Duncan grew closer.

“How’d it go?” Isadora asked brightly.

“I think it went well.” Duncan conceded. “There’s always room for improvement.”

“Tell you what,” Olivia mused as she lifted a glass of wine to her lips. “we’ll clear out the parlor next weekend and I’ll find something to put on the gramophone, and we’ll practice all together until our feet are sore.”

Duncan sat down on his sister’s other side. Olivia’s gaze wandered as he fell into discussion with Isadora and Klaus, trying to spot the others. Violet and Quigley had been sitting at the table when she and Duncan had left to dance, and now they were nowhere in sight. It made her heart race a touch, though she knew they were well protected within the room, given the circumstances. Not that they had any reason to fear.

Not anymore.

“There you are!” Dewey Denouement had finally made his way to them, the tall and lanky triplet smoothing invisible wrinkles in his cravat. “Was that you with Olivia I saw out there, Duncan? Very good form – I might need a few tips before the end of the night.”

“I, ah, sure?”

Dewey winked.

“I’m surprised you’ve had time to come and see us, being the busy host you are.” Olivia remarked, and Dewey’s smile only warmed to his fellow book-lover.

“I always have time for my favorite family.” He replied in kind. “Frank and Ernest have things well in hand.”

“How is Kit feeling?”

“Much better. She and Bea are resting tonight; in fact, I might sneak out early if things are still going well.” He mused. Olivia had noted in the time since his daughter had been born, Dewey seemed to enjoy his role as father and husband quite well. Taking to it like a fish to water. With a darling girl like Beatrice, Olivia couldn’t blame him. She had fawned for hours over the tiny human being, the newest member to the family.

“Good. If she’s feeling up to it, I think Jacques wanted to invite you both to dinner on Sunday.”

“I’ll be sure to ask. Where is he, at any rate?”

“Never far, don’t you fear.” Jacques Snicket interrupted smoothly, clapping Dewey on the back as he emerged from a small crowd nearby. “Go and see to my sister and niece. Frank and Ernest have this place taken care of. Besides, how much trouble could we all get in?”

“Knowing you?” Dewey’s lips twitched. “We’ll see you Sunday, then?”

Jacques bid Dewey goodbye before his attention immediately settled on Olivia, who warmed beneath his gaze.

“Forgive my absence. I was checking on our other two charges.” He murmured, wrapping his arm in hers.

“And?”

“Out on the patio for some fresh air. Talking. It looked rather intimate and romantic and I thought it best not to intrude.” He wrapped his hand around hers, lifting the back of her hand to kiss it. “Do you have another dance left in you for me?”

“Always.”

Setting her glass down, she let Jacques sweep her off toward the dance floor as the music from the last song wound to a close. How easily they fit together, his hand at her waist to draw her closer than was probably needed. Olivia found she didn’t mind at all, his fingers curling in the soft blue silk of her dress (she loved this dress, a gift from Kit just for this evening). It had been some time since they last danced, her mind mused as the music picked up and they fell into the steps of it. They moved in tandem like perfect puzzle pieces, molded to each other and skillfully avoiding anyone else on the dance floor. Their own bubble around them.

“Have I told you how wonderful you look tonight?” He asked, and it was Olivia’s turn to blush.

“Only three times.”

“You look wonderful. Thought I’d go for an even four.” His lips curled into a devilishly handsome grin, and Olivia couldn’t help but wonder just how lucky she had been to land a man like Jacques Snicket. Her heart bloomed with love for him, the family he had built and without hesitation had invited her to be a part of. The Quagmire and Baudelaire children, his siblings – with no family left of her own, Olivia had warmed to them instantly. She couldn’t imagine life without them. Any of them. So ingrained they were in her heart.

Jacques led her across the floor, between other waltzing couples. They made good partners, in dancing and in life and in volunteering. Perhaps it had been fate, if Olivia believed in any of the sort. Not that she did. For the most part.

“You look miles away.” Jacques’ soft voice brought her attention back to reality, and she gave an apologetic smile.

“I was just thinking.” She murmured. “About everything.”

“That’s quite a lot to think about.”

“Specifically, us.” She amended to his wolfish grin. “How lucky I am.”

“How lucky _I_ am.” He echoed, and pressed a kiss to her temple as the waltz began to end, their last few steps tapering off. A bow and curtsy, and he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles again. “And as always, a lovely dance.”

Olivia didn’t bother to hide her smile, instead wrapping her arm around his. His fingers brushed across her engagement ring, their love for one another written in stone quite literally. She still felt butterflies when she saw it against her skin, bright and shining. She was to be _married_ , which was a feat that quite frankly she never believed for herself. Books were her life. Or had been. They still were, but there was a small little nook among the stacks hollowed out just for Jacques and the children.

Violet and Quigley had returned to the table when she and Jacques approached, the pair holding hands beneath the table. It was endearing, the hesitation they had given one another. Now, without fear hanging over their lives at every waking moment, it seemed they had allowed themselves to enjoy each other’s company the way they had wanted to for so very long. Olivia was mindful because of course, they were still children in her eyes – but she would not dare tarnish any bit of happiness they found, even in each other.

“You look exhausted. Perhaps it’s time we head home?” She suggested, watching Klaus hide a yawn behind his hand. To her surprise, none of them argued. It had been a whirlwind of an evening, a small break in routine that had afforded them all pleasure. But being social was _exhausting_ , Olivia found. Unfortunately so.

The night air was cool against her flushed skin as they waited together for the carriage to return them home. It was a tight squeeze and if Olivia was almost sitting on Jacques’ lap as they rode (despite how improper) she didn’t object in the slightest. Tiredness hit her even harder, her head resting against his shoulder as the carriage rocked and rolled gently down the cobbled streets to take them back to their own home.

She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep among the quiet voice of her found family, but when she next opened her eyes they were pulled up to a stop outside the Snicket residence.

Varying levels of exhaustion were visible in the five children-turned-nearly-teenagers as they bid goodnight and headed upstairs to change and likely collapse in their beds, which Olivia thought was the right idea. Gustav had been there to greet them in the hall with the promise that Sunny was asleep and had been for nearly an hour, but that didn’t stop Olivia poking her head into Sunny’s room to ensure as such. She tucked the blanket around her littlest charge and knelt to press a kiss to her forehead; Sunny hardly stirred.

Once upon a time she wouldn’t have dared let Sunny out of her sight. The fact alone that they had felt confident to leave her home while tended to by Gustav had proven just how much lighter their lives had become in the past several months. It had taken time and adjustment, but Olivia thought they were close to being normal. As normal as a family like theirs could be.

She would never be able to replace their parents, but she hoped that she and Jacques would be suitable stand-ins for the wonderful people their parents had been.

It’s routine for her to check in with all of them before bed so she does. The final door she opens is her own.

Well, Jacques’.

He’d already changed, having done so while she did her rounds. The room was cast in soft amber and yellows from the candles on either side of the bed, illuminating the small writing desk he sat at scribbling away. She shut the door behind her, crossing slowly over to him.

“Lemony?” She asked, and he hummed in acknowledgement.

“Yes. Just a moment – I want to finish this so Gustav can send it tonight.”

Since the events of the months previous, Lemony and Jacques had been exchanging infrequent letters with one another. Olivia liked to think she’d prodded something in Lemony that had prompted the exchange, but there was certainly no telling with a man like Lemony Snicket. Leacing Jacques to his writing, she stepped to the other side of the room to begin the arduous task of unlacing her dress. Beautiful as it was, there were far too many strings and buttons for it to be practical in any other sense of the word. Simplicity was best – but the look on Jacques’ face when she’d descended the stairs earlier that evening had been well worth the struggle Violet had gone through to lace her into it.

Warm fingers covered her own after a moment of her struggling. Her breath hitched somewhere in the back of her throat. Her hands fell limply to her sides as Jacques took over her attempts. His movements were gentle tugs here or there, nimble fingers undoing tiny knots that slowly lessened the tightness at her chest and waist. She held fast to the front of her dress to keep it in place while he worked, his warmth an overpowering presence at her back.

She let herself take a deep breath for the first time that evening as the last hook came free.

It was very intimate, she thought. His fingers trailed back up her spin across the fabric, pausing at her neck to sweep her hair away.

“I’ll go give my letter to Gustav so you can change.” He murmured from behind, near her ear and it took Olivia a few moments to realize he’d even gone. She let out the breath she’d been holding.

Curse Jacques Snicket and his abilities to render her speechless.

He did it often, coming out of nowhere to help her unlace a dress or fasten a necklace. Anything that gave him an excuse to be in close proximity to her. It was an eternal struggle, Olivia found. The warmth that flooded her every time he invaded that space to do something that simple or kind or intimate as that. It was only a small action, but there was something about it that always made her breath hitch or her stomach bottom out.

It never progressed much beyond that. It had been a mutual agreement from both of them to set an example for the children. Jacques was the perfect gentleman to her and while she did share his bed in the evenings, hands never wandered. It was all very improper anyway, to even be sharing a bed innocently. She didn’t mind, despite her mother’s voice screaming somewhere in the back of her head.

A smaller part of Olivia was nervous because of her own inexperience in such a situation, but her partner was kind and understanding, she knew.

She had gotten very, very lucky and didn’t regret a moment.

Slipping the dress off and draping it across the back of a chair, she pulled on her nightgown. She was running a brush through her hair by the time Jacques returned to his – their? – room.

“Tonight was good.” She declared, watching his reflection in the mirror as he sat on the edge of the bed. “For all of us.”

“It was.” He agreed. “We need more nights like this.”

“I think there’s a play going on next month at the theatre. One of Shakespeare’s works. I saved the flyer in case you or the children would be interested.”

“You say that as if you don’t already know the answer you’ll receive is _yes_.”

Olivia laughed quietly.

“I wanted to give them the option, at the very least!”

Jacques smiled softly as she finished, tying her hair into a loose braid over her shoulder. Bed was sounding more and more enticing, especially with his offered warmth. She crawled in and they settled; her back against his chest, wrapped firmly in his embrace. Safest place in the world to her, she knew.

Yes, tonight had been perfect. She hoped for more evenings like it in the future. There was an entire city and world full of wonderful things she wanted to show the children and share with them (and Jacques) now that the dark cloud over their heads had been banished away. The children had finally started to come more and more out of their shells, slowly but surely. Enjoying things again. Finding happiness and pleasure and smiling more often.

Olivia adored the change she had seen in them, and only wanted more of it.

She was happy too. The cloud that had lifted had brought a weight off her shoulders. She had the children, she had Jacques, and she had her bookshop. She’d be getting married soon. Life seemed to be looking up in a way it hadn’t been able to before.

Nothing could take their happiness away. Nothing.

Except, perhaps, the smell of smoke that woke her from a dead sleep in the wee hours of the morning.


	2. chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW. Hello friends. I apologize for the long delay in updating literally anything. Life has really been coming at me and I needed to take a step back from a lot of things to deal with it. I'm back for the most part now, and I wanted to give you something so you weren't hanging on the edge of yours seats. This chapter isn't terribly long, but it sets up some things and is some filler for the upcoming chapter.

 

“That’s the last of it.”

Olivia mopped the sheen of sweat at her brow, inadvertently staining more of her skin with soot and dirt and ash. The air was thick with it and the last tendrils of smoke from the flames they’d struggled to douse. The grass of the back garden had gone up quickly, though Olivia had thanked the stars it had recently rained and it wasn’t able to spread across the entire lawn. Still, most of the yard was now covered – or rather, _not_ covered in grass, the bare edges of where the flames had been burnt down to little nubs against the bare earth.

Setting the bucket in her had down, she looked up to meet Jacques’ gaze. He, too, was covered in sweat and soot. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and his collar undone – Olivia had been forced to tie her nightgown up around her thighs to keep it from catching fire at the edges while she and Jacques worked quickly to douse the burning embers. Thank the stars the window had been open and they’d been able to catch the scent of it before it’d had a chance to completely spread and destroy the yard – or worse, the house.

Satisfied they had avoided a small crisis, Jacques and Olivia tiredly trudged through the back door to crowd the kitchen, where the children had all gathered with mixed expressions – mostly of sheer terror. They’d tried to help at first, but Olivia had forbade them and sent them back inside for their own safety. They, too, were still in their night clothes and looked absolutely dreadful; she could only imagine the horrific memories brought racing back into their minds.

She knew it would be foolish to get them to return to sleep.

“It’s safe.” Jacques assured quietly, wiping his hands on a towel hanging nearby before offering another out to Olivia. Without a bath there would be no getting the ash off her skin, but it would do for now. With her adrenaline wearing down, fear and worry was creeping into her belly.

She refused to believe the universe was rarely so lazy for such a coincidence. Nor the smell of gasoline that had tinged the air as they’d fought the flames. It had been set deliberately.

“Are you sure?” Klaus’ quiet voice asked, timid and tired.

“Absolutely. We put it completely out.” Olivia assured. “We wouldn’t let it come near the house, near you. We promised you safety, children.”

So had their parents, a small voice inside her said. And their parents had died in terrible fires that had also been set deliberately.

“What started it?” Quigley inquired. Much like Duncan’s, his hair was stuck up at all odd angles as if he’d furiously been running his fingers through it the entire time she and Jacques had been fighting the flames.

“We aren’t sure.” Jacques spoke up before she could. “It’s difficult to see anything in the darkness. We intend to investigate first thing in the morning when we can see more. If it was an accident, we’ll remedy the situation.”

“And if it wasn’t?” Violet said sharply.

“Then we’ll remedy that situation as well.” Olivia remarked. “You’re not going to lose us. Or each other.”

But one could only fight fires that were at a certain state. Anything large or too hot or – _no,_ she stomped on the voice. She and Jacques would always put them out. No matter the size or temperature or location. None of it mattered. Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Isadora, Duncan, and Quigley mattered. They would lose no more guardians. They would not lose the fragile net of safety they had all begun to rebuild around themselves. This was a set-back, a momentary lapse. It could be tended to.

“Come on. We’ll set blankets and pillows up in the library where we can stay together the rest of the night.” Olivia offered after another moment of prolonged silence between them all. A few of the faces staring back at her eased in slight relief. Jacques gave a ghost of a smile at her suggestion, nodding along.

She helped him move the sofas in the library around, shoving the desks against the shelves for the time being. Shoving the two sofas together facing each other made an almost nest-like bed large enough for the children to be together in. While Jacques adjusted more of the furniture around to make a pathway, Olivia went upstairs to gather pillows and blankets.

Half of the items were on the ground where they’d ben haphazardly thrown in their dazed and confused state at first, when she’d rush through to wake them all and usher them quickly out of their beds. She picked them up and threw them over her arm to carry, tucking what pillows she could carry up under her other arm. It took her two trips to get enough to ensure the brood of terrified young ones would be comfortable, and on the third she returned to the room she shared with Jacques to grab their own things. Not that she suspected either of them would sleep the rest of the evening either.

She’d dared to sleep and fire had happened. It was not a mistake she could let happen again.

Moving to the open window of the room that overlooked the back garden, she shut it so the scent of the fire wouldn’t permeate more than it already had. Her brows furrowed neatly, and Olivia found herself doing a double take out the window at the scorched earth below. She felt her stomach bottom out somewhere near her feet, and her heart launched into the vicinity of her throat.

_Oh stars._

Swallowing back the panic, she snatched up the duvet and pillows and retreated quickly back downstairs. The six children had already resettled into the sofas-turned-nest-bed, half piled on top of each other in their efforts to ensure they were all safe. It was both touching and heartbreaking to see; even little Sunny had wormed her way to the very middle of all of them. Safe. Despite their terror, she could see their eyelids already beginning to droop. A very noble fight, but exhaustion would win out, Olivia knew.

Clearly they felt safe and trusted their guardians enough to rest after such an event.

“Are you all right?” Jacques murmured softly as she set the pillows and blankets of their own onto the floor near the third sofa they had made their own bed for the evening. She wasn’t quite sure they could both cram onto it, but Olivia still wasn’t entirely sure she’d sleep that evening. Likely not.

“I’m fine. Are you?”

“Worried.”

“Me too. I need to show you something.”

Jacques’ expression turned puzzled. She gestured outside the window. He glanced out the panes, then over to the children as if he feared leaving them.

“Just for a moment. And just you. I don’t want to upset them further.” She added in a softer whisper. She loathed to leave them for any amount of time now, but Jacques needed to see it. Olivia wished she hadn’t.

Certain their flock were asleep or very near to it, they crept from the library and back the way they’d come, out to the rear garden. Smoke still lingered and the air seemed thick with swirls of ash and debris. Fire had a terrible way of sticking around, even after the danger had long passed.

“The grass.” She said suddenly, and stepped forward to the closest edge where the fire had burned the green away down to the earth. She placed her foot in the charred dirt, her other foot heel-to-toe with the other. She walked, tracing out the narrow line. A pattern, burned into the very earth. Certainly deliberate. Nearly impossible to see, except from a taller vantage point – as the view from the window had afforded her when she’d been gathering the blankets.

She traced the line halfway, before Jacques seemed to realize the path scarred into the grass. The pattern.

No, the _symbol_.

“V.F.D.” He said with a defeated tone, watching as Olivia traced out the remainder of the perfectly drawn eye symbol on the lawn. It was undeniable.

“A threat against the organization?” She offered quietly as she stood in the center loop. “Or a warning?”

“Both. Either. A statement meant to cause panic either way.” Jacques scowled, moving to join her as he stared down at the aftermath. Olivia had the sudden urge to take a large branch or a trowel and dig up all the earth, to scrub the symbol into nothingness in the only way she knew how. Obviously the organization had enemies, and many of them. It had been primary Olaf, but with him dead it only narrowed the field marginally. Olivia was only just getting familiar with some of the other enemies had by the writings and books Jacques had in the hidden office library.

“It has to be someone close to the organization.” He said at once, suddenly. “The symbol isn’t known to many outside of it. Even to our enemies, it’s never truly shown. We use it to communicate.”

“I suppose it would be too easy to ask you to write in non-coded language?” She remarked, and it earned her a twitch of his lips at her attempts to lighten the mood. “You don’t think someone _in_ V.F.D. did this, do you?”

“If they did, I don’t understand why.”

“We should tell Kit and the others. The ones you trust most, but not the entire group. Not yet. Just in case.”

He nodded slowly, reaching out to wrap an arm around her. She practically melted into his side, his head resting atop hers for a long moment as they stood in the center of the remains of the yard. Perhaps it had been too much to ask for their enemies to take a holiday. Permanently. It had been naïve to consider their problems gone with Olaf. Their arsonist had left no other clue or warning or threat, just the flaming eye emblazoned on the grass. It made her uneasy. Her priority above all else was the children, the ones she had promised to protect and keep safe.

“We should get back before they wake up and worry we’re gone.” Olivia sighed. “Though I don’t think I could sleep if I even tried. Not now.”

Jacques said nothing, clearly continuing to mull over the fire and the symbol and everything else with a mixed expression on his face. He did nothing to hinder her from looping her arm through his and leading the way back inside. The children had not moved, piled together as they were. Olivia paused long enough to blow out the candles on the desks they’d used while moving furniture, plunging the room into near darkness except the moonlight fading through the glass panes.

“It’s going to be a long night.” Jacques muttered as he sank onto the other sofa, and Olivia with him. She grabbed the blanket from the floor and dragged it around them. Even if sleep wouldn’t come, she would be warm. The remaining adrenaline had drained from her, leaving her exhausted like she’d never felt before. Her skin felt sticky with sweat and dirt, but she couldn’t be bothered to care for the time being.

“It’s going to be several long nights.” She corrected in a half whisper. “We’ll manage. We always do.”

“We always do.” He echoed quietly, and kissed her temple. “You should rest.”

“So should you.”

“Are you nagging me, Olivia Caliban?”

“Practice for being your wife. You should likely get used to it.”

Jacques smiled for the first time that evening, and his arm returned to wrap around her. A moment later, Gustav entered with a tray bearing two cups of tea and a steaming teapot. His face, too, was covered in ash. He’d hurried to help them put out the flames before ushering the children back inside when they’d tried to come to aid.

“This might help.” He murmured, setting it on the table nearest to them.

“Will you get messages to Kit and Dewey?” Jacques asked, and Gustav nodded.

“Of course. Anyone else?”

There was a long pause, and it was Olivia who opened her mouth.

“Lemony.”

Jacques and Gustav both looked at her. She only shrugged.

“He’s trustful.” She argued. Even if a pain in the neck. “We’ll need anyone trustful we can get within the organization.” She reminded in a softer tone to Jacques, who sighed.

“Lemony.” He agreed quietly. “Be careful, Gustav.”

The younger man smiled charmingly.

“Never.”

The library fell into silence except the occasional shifting of one of the children, or their quiet sighs in their sleep. Olivia couldn’t tear her eyes away from them, watching the rise and fall of their chests in the dim lighting. She would not have them threatened. Not again. Whoever had seemed fit to set fire to their back garden certainly had another thing coming to them. She was certain there were other rooftop windows she would happily fall through and drag an enemy down with her. Again. Anything to protect her family.

Chancing a glance at Jacques, she saw him fighting sleep himself flickering eyelids and all. She touched his cheek gently, encouraging him to rest. He needed it. She did, too, though when she closed her eyes for even a fraction of a second she could see the flames still burning in her mind’s eye.

As Jacques adjusted, she tucked the blanket more firmly around him before learning over to grab one of the cups of tea. Her fingers curled around the warmth as she settled against the cushions.

Yes, it was going to be a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there, lovely readers! My next update won't be nearly so far away ( hopefully ) !


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